It's true about the sun as in Spain you have to change tyres more often because of this. The tyres also lose pressure more easily and often.The good sunshine destroys anything really - garden chairs (plastic) in fact anything plastic.You don't see rusty cars but you do see sun smudged ones curiously mottled.Oh and of course the sudden wind storms when flower pots fall off balconies - dents in car roofs are not at all uncommon.Handy hint - if it's windy walk in the road!

TripleS wrote:As for contributing 'negative or sniping comments', I don't think silk is any more guilty than I am. Maybe I ought to grow up, too: but it's getting a bit late for that.

There is a difference: your contributions are frequently amusing; those of silk are usually of an unpleasant sniping nature. Since he seldom has anything constructive to say, it would be better if he went away.

Astraist wrote:Here's an example of what the difference between tyres from a known and unknown brand look like in similar conditions at 60mph. There's 25 feet between the two, in the dry!

The differences between winter and summer tyres are even larger, and the difference between new and aged (3-4 years) tyres is slightly smaller, but nevertheless significant. The same can be said for suspension parts, too.

That picture is misleading for a number of reasons: One, the camera angle makes the gap appear larger than it is and, two, you need to show the point where the brakes were applied relative to the positions of the cars. The overall stopping distance according to the Highway Code is 240 feet, making the difference only 10ish percent. As most drivers rarely use the maximum braking force, even in an emergency, this is a worse case scenario. In practice, the difference between different brands of tyres is probably negligible in normal driving. It's certainly not something I'd be unduly concerned about.

hir wrote:1. Are you saying that you do not accept that tyres of different construction perform better under the conditions for which they are designed than tyres designed for other conditions. In other words, do you reject the assertion that a tyre designed for winter conditions performs better than a tyre designed for summer conditions at temperatures below 7 Celsius? Or, is it your opinion that the winter/summer tyre debate is nothing more than a marketing exercise by the tyre manufacturers?

I do accept that some tyres perform better than others. I just question the degree to which it matters outside of motorsport or very arduous conditions.

hir wrote:2. If you do accept that winter and summer tyres perform differently and more effectively in the conditions for which they are designed, is it your position that here in the UK the extremes of temperature between seasons are not sufficient to warrant the expense of changing to winter tyres during the winter months?

Pretty much, yes. I believe that the amount of time and money people devote to all this tyre nonsense is in inverse proportion to the amount of real-world driving they do.

Silk wrote:That picture is misleading for a number of reasons: One, the camera angle makes the gap appear larger than it is and, two, you need to show the point where the brakes were applied relative to the positions of the cars. The overall stopping distance according to the Highway Code is 240 feet, making the difference only 10ish percent. As most drivers rarely use the maximum braking force, even in an emergency, this is a worse case scenario. In practice, the difference between different brands of tyres is probably negligible in normal driving. It's certainly not something I'd be unduly concerned about.

That's why I've stated the difference, which is slightly over 25 feet. It's considerably more than 10% (which is a lot in of itself) though, because bad tyres increase only the braking distance - not the distance covered during the reaction time.

Also, to be percise the speed was 90kmph rather than 60mph, so add that to the difference and it becomes significant in trying to optimise safety. It's not a performance driving thing, this could easily mean a collision that could otherwise be avoided.

The highway code assumes a very small rate of deceleration. These cars are braking on the dry to the point of activating the ABS, so The Highway code standards don't apply anyhow.